| | PANEL PIPER SENECA V POWER New Seneca V shows the power of a panel BY THOMAS B. HAINES A second engine brings a certain amount of comfort when there’s nothing around for hundreds of miles in any direction except Amazon rain forest. Welcome to the Piper Seneca V. South America—and Brazil, in particular—has been a haven for Seneca sales for decades. Piper’s strong presence in the region dates back to the days when a little Brazilian company called Embraer assembled Pipers to be sold in the region. Today, of course, Embraer is a global powerhouse, building everything from light jets to airliners and special-mission aircraft. Interestingly, today Embraer assembles Phenom business jets at a new factory just up the coast from Piper’s Vero Beach, Florida, headquarters while Piper no longer assembles aircraft in Brazil. P H O TO G R A P H Y B Y C H R I S R O S E VIEW THE VIDEO 46 | AOPA PILOT March 2013